Creation of the Resources on Culture and Art in Russian by the National Libraries of the CIS

Abstract

The author present the results of study of the activities of national libraries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on the creation and promotion of electronic information resources.The article analyses the open resources on culture and art presented in Russian on the official websites of the national libraries (NL) of the CIS countries.The author identified and structured the main types of resources of the National libraries of the CIS: electronic publications; electronic libraries; databases; virtual exhibitions, collections; photo-, video-, audio reports. The article presents in detail the resources of the National Libraries of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Uzbekistan and Ukraine. The author notes that the most common resources are electronic exhibitions and collections, but other types of resources — electronic publications, electronic libraries, databases — are rarely created. Innovation in the activities of the NL of the CIS on the creation of information resources is preparation of electronic reports on the results of past cultural events. The leader in creating and providing online resources in Russian on culture and art is the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, followed by the National Library of Uzbekistan named after A. Navoi and the National Library of Belarus. Monitoring of Russian-language sources of information on the websites of the NL of the CIS countries demonstrated that the efforts of libraries in the creation and presentation of resources on culture and art are quite active. Their further development by the libraries will contribute to the expansion of knowledge about the national culture and history of the CIS countries, disclosure and promotion of the collections and widening of the boundaries of free access to the national cultural and historical heritage.